This is rather unexpected: The Irregular at Magic High School The Movie: The Girl Who Calls the Stars / Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei Movie: Hoshi wo Yobu Shoujo

Original story this time. Movie lasted for 90mins. There are quite a number of changes in this movie. Time to list a bit of things and group them.

What I like about the movie:

Director got changed.

Light novel author himself is in-charge of the screenplay.

Iwasaki Taku remained as music composer

Character designer/chief animation director remained the same and is also the light novel illustrator.

Less talking more action.

Voice cast remained with a few new additions.

More comedy.

What I don’t like about the movie:

Madhouse -> 8-bit isn’t really a good move.

An original story isn’t always welcomed.

Side characters get neglected a lot.

Storyline was so much better. The anime had 3 screenwriters and all of them opted for the physics lesson. The movie had some physics lessons but way less talking and more action. The director change was probably the best thing that ever happened for the movie. The new original characters were a great addition. Character developments were great, but the attention on the side characters are pretty little, and they tend to get swiped away. Pacing was just right for 90mins, but I do find sometimes a bit too slow and low that I nearly fell asleep. The climax was pretty intense, probably even more intense than Yokohama. Some of their seniors came and it was pretty lit. Combat sequences were pretty short but extremely entertaining. This should be the way the anime should have been, people said when Mahouka was supposed to be dry, I always said no. Because no matter how dry a source material can be, screenwriters have the option to enhance the plot to make things more exciting. The comedy in this show is also another plus for me, which the anime lacked a lot. Ending was great, abrupt but great. Overall, this really compensated whatever that anime lacked and pretty much did it’s job to redeem itself.

Animations by 8-bit. Character design were retained, which is a welcoming move, but it’s prominent that it cannot compete with Madhouse’s color palette, gamut and saturation. It’s pretty crisp. 8-bit tend to add in some awkward Live2D magic to compensate their lack of keyframes in handdrawn animation. The combat scenes were pretty well done, for an 8-bit production. 3DCGI was extensively used in crowded areas. Overall, its a pretty polished work from 8-bit, surprisingly, but they masked the Live2D extensively, making it hard to tell, which is better than how A-1 did for Asterisk.

Music was great, Iwasaki Taku is back and GARNiDELiA with the ED, it was nice.

The cast list was great. They retained the whole cast but with addition of a few. Hikasa Yoko, Hino Satoshi and Kohara Konomi to name a few. They were great. I love it, Hikasa Yoko’s addition was probably the best choice. Kohara Konomi too.

Score:

Story: 8/10

Art: 8/10

Music: 8.5/10

VAs: 9/10

Highly recommended for all Mahouka fans, or non-fans or even people who probably hate the anime, because this one is something else.